SIEGER KÖDER,

A GERMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND ARTIST, used his paintings to illuminate Scripture. He wanted us to experience the Gospel more deeply and Christ more intimately and be drawn into greater service of others. His painting, The Washing of Feet, shows Jesus at His Last Supper giving us, besides His Body and Blood, an important lesson in servant leadership.

In the days of sandaled feet and dusty roads fouled with animal droppings, foot washing was a necessity. It was a lowly task done by a servant. When the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, the basin and towel were already there, but no servant, and no volunteers from the disciples who even then were arguing about who was the greatest (Lk 22:24). So Jesus, their Lord and Master, got up from His place at the head of the table, laid aside the robe that indicated His status and began to show them what greatness really means. This is the One Who, though God, did not cling to divinity, but emptied Himself to become one of us and for our sake humbled Himself even more to death on a cross (Phil 2:5-8).

Without His robe, Jesus was left clad in a tunic, the garment slaves wore to serve at table. Scripture says He wrapped the towel around His waist. But Köder painted stripes and fringes on the white cloth and draped it over Jesus’ head and shoulders, thereby evoking a Jewish prayer shawl and proclaiming the sacredness of His act.

When Jesus kneels down at Peter’s feet, we see His feet—large, strong feet, calloused from walking countless miles to preach the Gospel. His feet also needed washing, but

Jesus tends to others first. Peter is horrified at the utter impropriety of his Master, the Messiah, lowering Himself to such an act of servitude. But Jesus insisted on it, as He had when Peter rejected His prediction of suffering and death.

Jesus’ face is hidden. We see only its reflection in the water above Peter’s dirty feet. His eyes there seem sad, perhaps because we’re so slow to understand. In Köder’s Last Supper, the companion piece to this one, Jesus’ face is reflected in the wine of the chalice. He’s saying that Jesus is present in the humble service of others as well as in the Eucharist.

Peter bends down, drawing closer to Jesus, perhaps in spirit as well as in body. His left hand still pushes Jesus away, but his right hand says something different. His eyes start to show not so much rejection as the beginning of an understanding. And that was important, because Jesus had chosen Peter, as leader of His church, to be the servant of the servants of God.

And in case the disciples failed to understand His action, Jesus made it abundantly clear: “If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet,” He said, “you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (Jn 13:14-15). He had said earlier, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mk 9:35). Leadership is about service, not about status or power or privilege.

The triangular composition of this painting unites the Eucharistic bread and wine at its apex with the washing of feet at its base. John’s Gospel omitted the institution of the first to explain its meaning in the second. “The service of others,” John Paul II taught, “is the criterion by which the authenticity of our Eucharist is judged.” (Mane Nobiscum Domine, 28)

Fr. Peter Fennessy is serving his second term as superior of the Jesuit Community at Manresa. He is Coordinator of Individually Directed Retreats, and among other duties, manages our book store. Since studying Theology and Art and Buddhist Aesthetics during a sabbatical year at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, he uses fine arts to illustrate his preached retreats.

Paradoxes of being a servant leader

A servant leader must be:

Strong enough to be weak

Successful enough to fail

Busy enough to make time

Wise enough to say “I don’t know”

Serious enough to laugh

Rich enough to be poor

Right enough to say “I’m wrong”

Compassionate enough to discipline

Mature enough to be childlike

Important enough to be last

Planned enough to be spontaneous

Controlled enough to be flexible

Free enough to endure captivity

Knowledgeable enough to ask questions

Loving enough to be angry

Great enough to be anonymous

Responsible enough to play

Assured enough to be rejected

Victorious enough to lose

Industrious enough to relax

Leading enough to serve

Brewer, as cited by Tim Hansel in his book Holy Sweat